”But mom…”
“You’re not going. And that’s final, young man. I don’t want to hear another word about it!”
“But you know it’s different now! It’s not like it used to be when you were…”
“I said I don’t want to hear about it! Not now, not ever! This family has already given more than enough for that stupid war! You’re not going!”
“Fine. I’ll be outside. I think garden needs some water…”

Marie watched her son’s retreating back through the window of their small cabin. So much like his father had been. Same features, same build, same stubborn streak in him. Sam was now twenty. Man in the house. During those twenty years that had passed many things had changed in her life, and surrounding world. Most profound change was perhaps attitude towards mutants. It had taken a step towards tolerance when there had been an attack from outer space. People had reasoned that a threat from outside was far more formidable than the one that mutants posed. Even the eternal war had changed. Instead of being just an expensive meat grinder, originally plotted and developed to wipe out the whole mutant race, both sides turned against aliens, first time in over hundred years united. Men fought side by side with mutants.

“Sam… I’m sorry. It’s just… I can’t let you go. I can’t let them take you from me.”
“Fine.”
“You have to understand. After everything I went through…”
“I said fine.”
“Sam?”
“What do you want me to say? Yes, mom, you’re absolutely right? I can’t do that! Because you’re wrong! It’s my duty to defend Earth, not slave my ass off so that we could have something to eat next winter! If you could just let me go, I could make some money and send it to you. You could move in to settlement and forget this crappy little hut and crappy little garden!”

Sudden slap on the cheek silenced Sam. He just stood there, towering head higher than his mom and rubbing the red blotch on his skin.

“This crappy little hut is our home. This crappy little garden is the only thing that has kept us alive all these years. This piece of land is mine. If you want to throw this all away like a piece of trash, be my guest. Go and pack your things. Go get yourself killed. I’m tired of this shit…” Marie hissed turning her back to Sam and walking slowly back to the cabin. Sam had never seen his mother like this before. Shoulders slumped, head hung low and back bent. She wasn’t even forty years yet, and now she looked like she was closing sixty. He really felt bad for her. But he had never lied to her, and he wasn’t going to start it now. For as long as he remembered, they had been dead on honest to each other. Arrangement that had lead to many heated fights, but at the end of the day it was worth it. They had nothing to hide from each other, and it had lead to much closer relationship between them than most of his friends could say about themselves and their parents. Sam could count on her mother to be there for him no matter what. And he had made a solemn vow years ago that he would be there for her.

Sam was a good boy. Many ways probably much better person than Marie herself, she often thought. Even now. Even when he seemed to be scornful, he wasn’t thinking about himself first. He was thinking about what he could give to this world. And what he could do to improve the quality of their life. She was the first to admit there was room for improvement. Garden gave them vegetables and fruits, and Sam hunted for meat and pelts. She had learned how to process those pelts, and once a year she left their little haven to go to the nearest settlement to sell clothes she made out of them. Money she used to buy things they couldn’t hunt or grow themselves. It was hard life. But it was a good life. Kept them away from troubles when Guards and Hunters had still been capturing mutants. And even now kept them fed and clothed for most of the time.

She knew she was being unreasonable. Sam was a grown man. She should let him run his own life. She should cut the strings that tied them together and let him go, to find his own corner in this life. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She had been mulling that over for several years now. Every year she decided she would do it the next year. Every year it got harder and harder to let Sam go. He was the only thing left from the man she had once loved.

”Tomorrow’s a market day. You could come with me. I could use some help,” she said, stirring the soup that was bubbling on the stove.
“I’ll come. I had been planning to go anyway. Maybe spend few nights at the settlement,” Sam said with casual tone. Marie fought back the stern no that was forming on her lips.
“Few nights? What are you going to do?” She asked instead. Sam shrugged his shoulders.
“I was there last year. Remember the money I made in the cage? I was thinking I could fight this year, too.” Marie kept her back turned to him and busied herself by taking plates and cups from the shelf above the sink.
“I don’t know… It was a lot of money, but was it worth it? You were sick weeks afterwards.” Sam had inherited Logan’s keen senses and immunity to her skin, but not his healing ability. He was a big muscular man, but he could get hurt just like anybody else.
“I was sick weeks, but we lived for months with my winnings,” Sam reminded her.
“Fine. You can go. On one condition,” Marie consented reluctantly, turning to face Sam. He was looking at her with both eyebrows raised as high as they could go.
“No broken bones. If it gets too rough, you’ll get out, no matter how much money is in the pot.”

After they had eaten Sam retreated to his room, undoubtedly to check his gear. Marie washed the dishes and ventured to front porch, just to sit and enjoy the silence. She could see the desert through the woods, and far away blinking lights of the settlement. They would have to rise early tomorrow. She had already packed the clothes she had made to the truck, but it would be several hours before they reached the settlement. Several hours over the scorching sand. She still wondered how she had managed to cross it by foot all those years ago. It had more to do with stubbornness than survival skills, for that she was sure.

When she had left the breeding center, she had wandered around aimlessly. After a week on the road, with nothing to eat, with no clothes or money, a mutant friendly salesman had taken pity of her. He had given her some clothes, food, and directions to the settlement. She had worked as a waitress for a while, but she had soon noticed it wasn’t a healthy place for a mutant. On the map had shown a small patch of forest, a possible oasis at the desert. She had made her way there. She had found an abandoned truck from there. Lady luck had finally decided to grant her some mercy. Truck had been filled with rations and clothes. And close by had been an underground current, streaming with crystal clear water. She had made a nest of some sorts to the back of it, and lived there, first alone, then, after birth with Sam. When she had felt that she was in reasonable good shape, she had started to build them a house. It had taken her a year, to build the cabin they even now lived in. To err is human had become her mantra during that year. First it had been just one room, but when Sam started to grow up they had built two more rooms to it.

All in all, life hadn’t been easy, but they had managed to get through it with hard work and determination. And now leave all this? For what? A single room in the settlement, go back to the life she thought she had left behind ages ago? Go back to all those people who had wanted to send her away and lock her up. To use her. Experiment on her. Shudder run through her whole body. Never.
“But I have to let him go. It has been too long already. Tomorrow. I’ll tell him tomorrow…” She whispered silently to no one in particularly. She could only hope that Sam would choose wisely how to use the freedom she had decided to grant him.

“You got everything?” She asked when Sam climbed to the passenger’s seat.
“Yeah. I put my bag back.” He spoke with a silent voice, refusing to look at her.
“What are you up to?” Marie asked with a sharp voice.
“Nothing. Can we just go already? You don’t want to be late…” For that Sam was absolutely right. It was five o’clock, but it would be closer to ten before they reached the settlement. All the best places at the marketplace would be taken already, but at least there would be free places left. She started the truck.
“You ready?” She asked. Sam patted the rifle on his lap and gave her a tight-lipped smile.
“Just drive.”

Few times bandits had tried to rob them. Every time they had managed to outrun them, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared. She didn’t have the knowledge or means to armor the truck, let alone mount an automatic cannons to it, but Sam was quite skilled with the rifle.

“This has been a long winter,” Sam noted when they passed several dried animal carcasses during the first hour of their drive.
“I’m just glad it’s over. No need to break your back over the garden anymore, it’ll get all the water it needs from the sky,” Marie muttered, steering the truck around small dune that had formed over the caravan route.
“Yeah… About that… What if you made an irrigation channel from the well to the garden? Would be much easier for you.”
“For me? Since you turned ten, I haven’t carried a single bucket to there. Don’t you mean it would be easier for you?” Marie asked.
“Well… Yeah. I guess that’s what I meant…” Sam said, gaze fixed to horizon.
“Okay. There’s something you’re not telling me… Let me have a guess?” Marie asked. Sam swallowed, clutching the rifle on his lap harder.
“Mom…”
“It’s just not few nights at the settlement. You’re not planning to come back at all. Am I right?” Sam kept silent, peering through the side window rather than facing her.
“Am I right, Sam?” Marie asked again.
“I was going to come back. To bring you some money. And to make sure you were all right. But yeah. I’m leaving.”
“Sam, look at me.”
“Mom, it’s… I have to go! I’m going nuts! I need to live my own life!”
“You’re absolutely right. I wasn’t going to tell you this before I was returning to home. I was going to give you half of the profit I make today, and let you go.” For that Sam had nothing to say.

“Only one hour to go, and nobody has tried to stop us yet,” Marie wondered.
“Might have something to do with that…” Sam said, pointing to the rearview mirror. Thick cloud of dust was following them. Every once in a while small breeze picked up, parting the cloud, and she could see the vehicles. Army convoy. She gripped the steering wheel harder, trying to tamp down the trembling she could feel was starting. She couldn’t fool Sam.
“Calm down, mom. They’re not after us. Those days are over. They’re probably on their way to the front,” he said, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

Calm down. It was easier said than done. For the most part of her life she had spent running and hiding. It was an instinct built in to her. It made her push the gas pedal little harder. It made a thin sheen of perspiration rise to her forehead. She wiped it off before it started to trickle to her eyes. Her fingers came off light blue.
“Mom? You really need to calm down, now…” She pulled to the side of the road and leaned her back to the seat. Closed her eyes.
“Maybe you should drive.”
“Okay. We can wait here and let them pass. Would you feel better if we drove behind them?” Sam asked. She nodded feebly. It was only moderately better option, but they could really use the extra protection the convoy offered.

She kept her eyes closed when she heard the trucks driving past them. She could feel the vibrations that heavy machinery created. She could smell the stench of gasoline. She could hear the rattle of chains. Angry, barked orders. Hits. Kicks. Hunger. Pain…
“They’re gone. Move over.” Sam’s voice brought her back from her memories. She scooted over to the passenger’s side, letting Sam take the wheel.

“Okay. All set. Do you need me for anything?” Sam asked brushing his hands clean to the thighs of his jeans. Backboard of the truck’s lorry was now open. Jackets, trousers, shirts and skirts, made from leather and pelts hung on the lorry, neatly arranged to display.
“No. Just go and have fun,” Marie said. First customers were already circling the truck, and she had noticed people tended to be afraid of Sam, probably because sheer size of him, and the predatory air he exuded. Sam shouldered his backpack and left, undoubtedly to look for the manager of the cage match. Now there was something more he had inherited from his father. Both were short tempered and prone to violence. And yet most caring people she had ever met. Even Logan, in his feral state had made a promise to take care of her. A promise he hadn’t been able to fulfill in the end, but now really wasn’t the time to hash it over. Now it was time to smile and bargain with the customers.

Sam came back shortly after noon, looking quite smug. He handed Marie a brown paper bag.
“Found this from a small shop. Thought you might like it…” Gifts were rare occasion in their family, so Marie took the bag from him eagerly and opened it. Inside was a small jeweler’s box.
“Sam…” She held the box on her palm and looked at him questioningly.
“I have been listening your petty excuses to why you can’t move in to settlement. This one will take care of at least one of those,” Sam said, took the box from her and opened it. Inside was a small ring. Simple band made out of steel.
“It’ll turn off mutations. Slip it on, and you can be like anybody else. Touch other people, wear any clothes you like, kiss, have sex…”
“Young man! My sex life, or the lack of it isn’t your concern!” Marie scolded him, trying to smile and failing miserably.
“Duh! My point was, that you could have a normal life. Do everything other people can do. Have fun. Come on… Just take it. Put it on,” Sam urged, pushing the box back to her. She took it, but closed the lid.
“Not now. Maybe later. Now I’m safer if my skin’s on…”

“Huh! That was the last of them…” Lorry was empty aside from hangers and racks. Few times she had had to return home with a pile of clothes instead of the money, but this time she had managed to sell every piece, even with a good price. She wouldn’t have to worry over next winter. She could even afford to some luxuries. Real coffee. Few extra bars of soap. Maybe go and see fights tonight. Spend a night in the settlement. Have some fun as Sam had proposed. Her fingers dove in to the pocket of her pants, and grazed lightly the velvet surface of the small box. No. Better let it be. She was carrying too much cash to go unprotected. She checked the truck one last time before going to find a suitable place to sleep over.

She managed to find moderately cheap room from an Inn near the marketplace.
“You in here for the fights?” Owner asked when cashing her in. She nodded little hesitantly. She wasn’t actually sure what had made her stay, but fights sounded as good reason as any other.
“You’re in for a real treat, then. I heard there are some veterans on the roster!” Owner smiled gap-toothed smile.
“Veterans?” she asked puzzled.
“Yeah. You know, from the war? The first war?” Owner clarified. Suddenly her mouth felt awfully dry. The few times Sam had gone in the cage, it had been filled with beer-bellied farmers and not much else. Now there would be trained fighters.
“I heard there’s even one Destroyer. Swiped the cage clean in the last town they visited…”
“Aren’t they all in the field?” she squeaked. Owner of the Inn mistook her quivering voice as a sign of enthusiasm.
“No, ma’am! Most of the Destroyers left the force after the peace treaty. I heard this one puts in a good show. You should go and settle in, you don’t want to miss it…” Man said, flashing a wide smile and winking at her knowingly.

Arena was few blocks away from the Inn. Huge cage, erected to the border of the settlement, and an auditorium built around it. Place was packed full with cheering and applauding people, but she managed to find a place near the ringside. Fighters were already entering the cage, each and every one of them wearing makeshift armors. No weapons were allowed, but many of them seemed to have found a way around that rule by decorating their padding and plates with spikes and blades. She spotted Sam, standing in the middle of the crowd, stretching his muscles and jumping slightly to warm up. He had used old tires of the truck to make an armor that shielded him from head to toe. He had used a whole week to it, then cursed and used another week to remodel it until it fit perfectly. He reminded a tortoise, but she had seen him moving around in it. No tortoise could move so graciously and efficiently.

There were ten men in the cage. Five more entered, their stance and attitude separating them from local fighters. They were part of the crew that arranged these matches. Instantly her eyes fixed to a bare back of one of those men. She recognized it. Recognized the way the muscles moved under flawless skin. Wild, dark hair, strong neck and shoulders, slightly crouched and tense posture. Way he was observing his surroundings.
“Logan…”

Hours passed. Men fell one after an other, until there were only two men left standing.
“Go down, kid. And stay down…” The one everybody called Wolverine growled. Sam shook his head. He hadn’t fought this long just to give up.
“If somebody’s going down, it’ll be you…” He hissed, spitting off blood that trickled from a cut lip.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…” Wolverine snorted. His fist connected to the chest piece of Sam’s armor, punching him off from his feet.
“Stay the fuck down… Those ribs will heal in a month, but brain damage is more serious matter…” Wolverine grunted and kneed him to the side when he tried to get up. Sam rolled away from him and sprung on his feet.
“It’s not even that much money. Are you really willing to die over two thousand credits?” wolverine asked, tilting his head. Sam punched his fists together.
“Nobody’s going to die in here. But you’re going down now,” he promised, charging towards his opponent headfirst. The way he had finished most of his fights tonight, head-butting other fighters unconscious. Only this time it didn’t work.

Wolverine’s knee was pressing between his shoulder blades. One of his arms was curled around his throat, twisting his head painfully backwards. Other kept his flailing arms out of the way.
“Give up already. I’ll split the pot with you if you stay down now,” Sam could hear him murmur, close to his ear. Then suddenly grip around his throat tightened to the point that it was almost impossible to breathe.
“Where is she!”
“Who…” Sam managed to choke out the question. Wolverine paid no attention to his struggles, just leaned closer against him, until his nose was practically buried to the back of his neck.
“Fuck…” Suddenly helmet was yanked away from him. Sharp knock to the back of his head was enough to stop Sam from getting up.

His head was spinning. It was hard to think. It was hard to breathe. Then somebody was kneeling over him, tugging his gauntlets.
“Give those to me…” Angry hiss. His mother.
“Mom…”
“Shut up. Stay down. I’ll take care of this.”

“Yet another contestant seems to have stepped in the ring! This is getting interesting!” Loudspeakers boomed. Logan could only stare at the petite woman in front of him. Gone was the pixie-like creature he remembered. Work-hardened body had replaced slender curves. There was a feral gleam in the eyes that had once shined love and caring. Delicate hands were now hidden under thick gauntlets made out of black rubber and covered with razorblades. She bared her teeth and let out a low, guttural growl. It was the only warning he got before she launched herself to him, staying well out of his reach, jabbing steady, sharp punches when ever his guard dropped, drawing blood with every connecting hit.

At first she had been horrified. Ready to run if he noticed her. Then fight had broken out, and Sam had drawn her whole attention. She was his mother. She worried. Logan momentarily forgotten she had stared in awe when Sam had finished opponent after another, seemingly effortless. She had cheered along when people around her had cheered. She had booed when situation required it. Then there had been only two men standing, and reality had invaded her mind again. She had started to make her way towards the cage when it started to look like Sam was loosing. Not a surprise to her. Nobody could take down Wolverine. When Logan had pinned Sam to the ground she had prayed that he wouldn’t take in Sam’s scent. Foolish prayer. When Logan had knocked Sam unconscious, something inside of her had snapped. She wasn’t going to just stand and watch when her son got beaten to pulp. No matter who or what did the beating.

Every punch hurt like a bitch, but Logan was practically purring from contentment. She was fire and ice, blood and barbed wire, ready to defend their son no matter what. For his son that stubborn fighter was. First he had caught a whiff of Marie’s scent on him, and sudden pang of jealousy and black hatred had made him nearly kill the other man. At the final possible second, before Logan had snapped his neck he had smelled something else. His own scent mingling with Marie’s. That had identified the now unconscious kid as their son to him; instead of possible lover he had first mistaken him.

He didn’t answer to Marie’s attacks, merely fended them off for the most part. When she showed no signs of tiring he finally pinned her to the ground with his body, restraining her hands above her head. Marie let out a startled shriek. Crowd around them was chanting for blood. Suddenly Marie kneed him to the groin. Blow made air hiss out of his lungs and his eyes water, but he refused to let go of her.
“You should have done that twenty years ago…” He whispered, leaning closer to her face. Confused look clouded her eyes.
“Is it you? Really just you?”
“Just me, Marie.”

When it looked like she had calmed down, he let go of her, stood up and backed away few steps, still guarding her every move carefully. Yet she managed to take him by surprise.
“You fucking bastard!” She threw him with the gauntlets, then turned her back and went to the boy who was now struggling to stand up.
“Come on… That’s it. Get up. I’ll have a room. We can go and take care of you…”
“But what about… What about the money?” Boy was wheezing, eyeing Logan maliciously.
“It doesn’t matter. We have to go now. This isn’t a good place…” Suddenly the boy straightened his back.
“You’re afraid of him. Why?” He asked.
“It’s nothing. Come on. Let’s go…” Marie tried to push him to the direction of the door, but boy refused to move. He shrugged Marie’s hands off from him and took a step closer to Logan. He could see boy’s nostrils flaring briefly.
“It’s him…”
“Sam, no. We have to go…” Marie was struggling now in earnest, throwing herself in front of her son, trying to stop him. Boy kept walking until he stood nose to nose with Logan, Marie squished between them.
“You fucking piece of shit raped her.”

Two raging beasts towered over her. She could feel vibrations of their growling coursing through her whole body. Logan’s hand reached over her shoulder and locked around Sam’s throat.
“You little prick don’t know jack shit about what went down back there, so keep your mouth shut. That’s something between me and your mother,” Logan murmured low under his breath.
“Just because you’re my son doesn’t mean that I won’t hurt you. Go. Walk away before I’ll do something we all regret…” Logan snorted, shoving Sam backwards, releasing his grip from around his throat.
“Mom?” Sam’s eyes searched hers.
“Go back to the truck. Wait for me there. I’ll come as soon as I have talked with… With your father.”

Logan was still growling, his whole body tense. When Sam moved, turned around and started walking towards the cage door Marie had to keep Logan back so that he wouldn’t go after him. She stood there, nervous and agitated man pressing against her back for what felt like eternity. People watching the match were now silent, leaving. It was obvious that the fight was over. House had won. Not one of their own, so there would be no celebrations and a big reward ceremony.

At the door Sam stopped and turned to look at them. Marie waved him to go. She really needed to talk with Logan, alone. No matter how terrified and alone she felt with him, she had to squish the urge to run, and face him. Logan seemed to think the same.
“You have a room? Can we go there? We need to talk, and it’s kind of private,” he said raising his voice towards the end of the sentence, to ward off his team members who had woken up and circled them.
“We’ll see you tomorrow, Wolverine…” One of them said. Shiver run down Marie’s spine upon hearing that name.

She tried to act nonchalantly. Here she was, walking down the street. There were no worries. Army had cleared off hours ago, and there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Then her gaze swept over the man walking beside her and suddenly worrying was all she could do. Had she lost the last bit of common sense at the arena? He was Wolverine. Creature that had raped her repeatedly until Mechanics had taken her away from him. Then he gazed towards her, and she could see her own nervousness reflecting from his eyes. He was just Logan. They were both scared.

“It’s in here,” she stuttered, entering the Inn. Owner of the place was still behind the counter next to the door, and winked her when Logan stepped in after her.
“Told you it would be worth of your time…” Man cackled when they walked past him. She chose to ignore the remark and took the stairs, one at time. Her room was on the second floor. At the door she stopped, suddenly hesitant. Room was awfully small. As if reading her mind, Logan cleared his throat.
“We don’t have to go in there. We can go to tavern, if…” He spoke softly. She pushed the door open and walked in.
“You coming or going?” She asked, tilting her head when Logan remained at the doorstep. Sighing he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

It took all her strength and will not to bolt straight back out from the room. It really is small. Tiny. Tiny like a fucking cardboard box. Logan shifted uneasily, hand rising and combing his fingers through tousled mess of his hair.
“Marie, I… I’m sorry about what happened.” His voice was flat, as was his apology, too. It only managed to re-awaken the anger she had suppressed after Sam was born.
“You’re sorry? Is that all you have to say?” She snarled.
“Yeah. What else there is to say? That there hadn’t been a day that I haven’t thought about you? That I have spent all these years looking for you? That I crawled under a rock and died?” Logan’s hackles rose, too.
“That would be a good start.”
“That would be a fucking lie. I haven’t lied to you before, and I’m not about to start it now. For the past years I have tried to forget that you even existed. I was doing just fine. What the hell are you doing in here?” Logan growled.
“I live here. What is your excuse?” Marie spat, crouching slightly, balling her fists.

“I don’t… I… We didn’t… Oh, fuck this. Can we start over? Without this fucking childish bickering?” Logan asked, sitting heavily on the bed. Frame of it squeaked alarmingly under his weight. At the arena he had been impressed about the way Marie had thrown away everything and attacked him in order to save her… Their son, but now her less than friendly attitude managed only to make things harder. His own temper wasn’t helping much in that matter.
“I’m not planning to come back and screw up your life again. Or my life. It became quite apparent, that bad things happen if we stick together. I’m traveling with that freak show. I was just surprised to see you. I thought… I thought you died back there…” Logan said, his voice cracking slightly over his last words.
“I thought you were dead, too. I was happy for it. It was kind of sad. I had loved you, but it was such a relief to think that I didn’t have to run and hide from you anymore. I have a life now. Not perfect, but not completely miserable either.” Logan nodded and hung his head.

“You did it? Blow up that hellhole?” He suddenly asked.
“I guess so. Everything just crumbled from around me. When it was over, I walked away. There was nobody to stop me.”
“It took me a fucking week to crawl out from that pile of rubble. Cleared my head nicely. I was almost sane when I got back to surface. Army had already been there. They had salvaged what they thought they could still use and left. Thanks.”
“For what?” Marie asked puzzled.
“For getting us out from there. For finishing it.”
“You’re welcome. Are we good now?” She asked.
“Yeah. I guess we are…” Logan said.
“Good. I have to go and take care of Sam…”
“Sam? It’s a good name,” Logan said, standing up. She reached for the doorknob when his hand closed around hers.
“Can I… Marie, can I just hold you for a while?”

She froze. There was no way he had asked it. No way. And there was no way in fucking heaven or earth that she would say yes. No. She turned stiffly around to face him again, fear twisting her insides. He stood there, impassive mask fallen over his features. He leaned closer, bracing his hands to both sides of her, against the doorframe. His nostrils flared slightly and he swallowed. She could only stare at him.
“Can I?” He asked again. He looked calm and composed, but his voice betrayed his true feelings. He was as scared as she. That gave her the necessary strength to push him backwards.
“No.” She turned around, opened the door and walked out, waiting for the inevitable feel of his hands on her. It never came, and she kept walking. Out from the room. Out from the Inn. To the truck where Sam was waiting.

“Everything all right?” Sam asked when she climbed to the driver’s seat. She nodded. She didn’t trust her voice enough to speak. She was scared. She was angry. She felt disgusted. She had made it on her own all these years, never backing down, and now one man managed to make her tremble out of fear and run like a little helpless girl.
“We’re going home now?” Sam asked, shifting on the seat uneasily. He had taken off his armor and wrapped his ribs, but she knew he must be in pain. It would be best to return to the room she had booked from the Inn and let Sam sleep for a while, at least couple of days, but she couldn’t go back there, not as long as the fighters were in town.

“We’re going home. Stay sharp.” Now there was no convenient convoy offering safety in numbers. It was night, and they would be crossing the desert alone. Sam winced but sat up straighter and grabbed the rifle, checking it was loaded. Spare ammunition was in the glove compartment. He took out a cartridge and put it on the dashboard. Quicker to reload from there, than start hunting more ammo in the middle of a gunfight.

They got as far as to half way through the route when searchlights swept over the truck.
“Fucking vultures…” Sam muttered, cocking the rifle. Marie could see at least five vehicles circling around their truck. Small and agile little things, most likely hovercrafts. At least two of them were heavily armed, with pulse cannons installed to the front. One blast from one of those and the truck’s engine would be toast. Of course the guy operating those monsters had to know what he was doing. They were so high-powered weapons that as easily as they could just stop the truck, they could blow it up completely, leaving bandits with nothing but a smoking pile of bent metal. If she could keep driving, they probably wouldn’t risk loosing their intended loot.

“Incoming!” Sam shouted warning just as one of the hovercrafts crashed against the truck’s side. They were going to force her off-road, to the sinking sand. She would get stuck if the truck slipped in there. Truck swerved, but she managed to keep it on the road.
“I swear if we get away from them, I’ll start working on this babe…” She murmured. She still remembered bits and pieces from the truck she had taken apart with Logan. It would have to be enough, because bandits were getting more skilled every year that passed.

Hovercraft rammed to the back of the truck, making the whole vehicle swerve and tremble. She fought with the steering wheel, trying to make it obey her will. From the corner of her eye she could see red glow. Hover was powering up the pulse cannon.
“Sam, can you get those cannons out of the game?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. Those suckers are so heavily armored that I doubt it, but I can try…” Sam muttered, leaning over her lap and opening the side window. Shooting from a moving platform to a moving target wasn’t easy, but he had gotten quite skilled in that during these years.
“Can’t take out cannons, but I’ll see if I can slow down those hovers…”

First shot just grazed armoring of the hovercraft lightly, but it was enough to scare the driver. When he slowed down Sam got a better aim to the hover, and he managed to blow up the air intake on the craft’s left side, putting it out of commission temporarily.
“Now that other fucker…” He said, sitting up and checking the situation from the rearview mirror.
“Shit… Mom! More bogies coming in!” She risked a glance and swore. Sam was right. He had disabled one of the hovercrafts, but something bigger was approaching them from behind, fast. Another truck. Armed from bottom to the roof, with all imaginable weaponry there was.

It was big. It was ugly. It looked clumsy as hell, but it was gaining them fast. Soon it was close enough to nudge the bumper of their truck with its own. Then it opened fire. Three machine guns, pulse cannon and two flamethrowers practically eviscerated small hovercrafts from around them.
“Oh, my God…”
“Might as well give up. That bastard is too big and mean for us,” Sam hissed, banging the dashboard angrily with his fist. Armed truck drove to their side. She couldn’t see inside because of the tinted windows. It drove beside them for a while, then suddenly sped up and swerved in front of them.
“What the fuck is going on?” Sam whispered. They had seen three more hovercrafts coming towards them. Looked like who ever was driving the armed truck wasn’t going to let anybody else to the loot. Heavy truck squished one of the hovers under its wheels and pulse cannon made short work from the other two. That task completed it slowed down and fell back beside Marie’s truck.
“It’s dad,” Sam said.
“How do you know?” Marie asked.
“Who else would drive a tank like that? And it kind of helps recognition when it reads ‘Wolverine’ on the door of that beast…”

“Shit. Shitshitshit… Fuck.”
“What are you doing?” Sam asked when their speed started to slow down.
“I don’t want him to find out where we live. I’m stopping.” She eased her foot from the gas slowly and let the truck grind to a halt. Bigger truck stopped too. Driver’s door opened, and Logan climbed down, lighting a cigar. He walked to their truck and just stared at them through the windshield, puffing the cigar.
“Oh, crap. Stay here…” Marie muttered to Sam and climbed out to meet their rescuer.

“Are you fucking nuts? Driving around alone in this piece of shit! You’re lucky one of the guys saw you leaving…”
“I left because of you. I didn’t ask you to follow me.”
“Fuck you, too, Marie. Hop in and drive home. I’ll make sure you’ll get there in one piece. I’ll fix this thing that you call a truck and…”
“No. Leave us alone.”
“No, Marie. You don’t like me that much, and for that I don’t blame you. But I’m not going to sit back and watch you get yourself killed. Drive. I’ll follow. I have spare parts in the back. I can start working with that truck of yours as soon as we get to your place. Might take couple of days, and after that I’ll leave. I’ll leave for good.”

“He didn’t take no for an answer?” Sam asked when she started the engine and Logan’s truck pulled after them.

Marie had handed him the keys to her truck and retreated to the cabin, telling that she was tired. It suited him just fine. The less distractions there were, faster he could get the work done. Speaking of which…

“Shouldn’t you go to sleep, too?” He asked, noticing Sam who was sitting at the front porch of the cabin, hands clasped over his sides.
“No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
“Fine. You got those ribs wrapped?” He asked, circling the truck, checking it over to see what needed fixing.
“Don’t you worry about that… Dad.” Sam spat the last word out like it was poison.
“Okay…” Boy’s attitude started to piss him off, so he chose to turn his back on him and crawl under the truck to see if everything was okay in there. He could hear footsteps. They stopped. Sam crouched next to the truck, air wheezing out of his lungs painfully.
“I won’t let you fuck this up. Mom really needs this truck.”
“Right. That’s why I blew up those bandits. Just to mess around with this piece of crap and maybe cut the brake line…” Logan murmured, tightening couple of loose bolts that he spotted before crawling back out from under the vehicle. Sam backed to the front porch of the cabin again.
“I need to take this thing apart before I can do anything else. You’re going to watch me, or are you going to help?” Logan asked, tilting his head.

“What exactly are you planning to do?” Sam asked when they started to strip the truck bare.
“Little make-over. This is older than my truck, but basically the same model. I’ll put some armor over it, maybe more power to the engine, and I have extra pair of flamethrowers. I could of course go and get a pulse cannon from the settlement…” Logan muttered, piling loose parts to neat piles to the side of the cabin.
“Why are you doing this?” Sam asked. Logan shot him a curious look.
“Why? What do you mean?”
“Do you think this will make mom forget what happened? Is this a part of some sort of scheme to lure your way back to her life?”
“Like I said to you earlier, you have no idea of what happened back then. What it was like. You have no place or right to talk about it,” Logan said.
“And no. I’m not planning to stay. I’m leaving as soon as I have this finished,” he added quickly when Sam’s face reddened from anger.
“I don’t understand. What’s in this for you? What do you get out of this? It isn’t like those spare parts and guns are free. Are you trying to pay for her for what you did?”
“Your mother is not a whore. I’m doing this because of what we once were. Because of what she once meant for me. And that’s all there is for you to know.”

“You keep telling me I should just ignore the fact that you raped my mom and keep my mouth shut. Now, what kind of a bastard I would be if I did that?” Sam asked when they were checking over the engine.
“Alive bastard, for sure. Look, it was hard for both of us. It happened. We dealt with it with our own ways. Just let it be already,” Logan grunted, wiping the grease from his hands to a rag he had pulled from his back pocket. He was going to snap if the boy didn’t shut up soon.
“Look, just go to bed. You need to rest. Those ribs will be sore as hell in the morning. I got this covered.”
“I’m sure it would suit you just fine…” Sam growled.
“What the fuck is your problem, boy? I’m trying to help your mom!” Logan huffed.
“Like you helped her when the Army caught her and threw her in to that hell?” Sam snorted.
“You asshole wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the Army. If I were you, I would go to sleep and forget this subject right now…” Logan hissed, claws straining the soft skin between his knuckles.
“Thank God I’m nothing like you!” Sam spat.
“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that. I refuse to believe that we bred a moron back then, or that Marie raised one. Go to sleep. We’ll talk later.” When Sam looked like he wasn’t going to comply, Logan raised his hands, palms flat in front of him.
“The sooner you go, the sooner I can get this finished. The sooner I can get this finished, the sooner I can leave. Go to sleep and we both win.”
“What are you going to do if I stay? Claw me?” Sam growled. Logan snorted and turned back to the engine.

“Mom?” She opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her face groggily.
“What is it?”
“I just came to tell you that I’m going to bed. If you need anything, just shout.” Sam was hovering at the doorstep.
“I will. How’s Logan?” She asked.
“I don’t know. Either he’s trying to mess up the truck for good, or he’s really trying to help. I don’t want you to go out alone while he’s there.”
“Sam…”
“No, mom. I don’t want you to get hurt again. If you need something just ask me. I’ll go and get it. I don’t trust him.”
“Fine,” Marie huffed. Again she was reminded of how alike both men were. Protective streak wider than a freaking Grand Canyon.
“Good night, mom.”
“Good night, Sam.”

She waited until she was quite sure that Sam had fallen asleep before getting up and dressed. She didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.
“Might as well go and see what’s happening…” Logan was upgrading her truck, but after he was gone she would have to keep it up and running by herself. Wouldn’t hurt to see how it was done.

He had fallen to sleep soon after Sam had left. Wouldn’t hurt to take a small nap he had reasoned and climbed to the cab of his truck. Soft knock on the door woke him up. Scent wafting from the air vents identified the knocker to him. Marie. He stretched and yawned before opening the door.
“Morning,” Marie greeted him whispering. Sun was rising.
“Didn’t have time to go shopping, so I don’t have coffee. You drink tea?” She asked, handing him a steaming cup. Scent of herbs tickled his nose. He took the offered cup, nodding a quiet thanks before taking a sip.
“How does it look like?” She asked tilting her head towards her truck that stood stripped bare in front of the cabin.
“Not bad. It’s a sturdy little critter. I’ll put heavier coat on it… Flamethrowers… Do you want a pulse cannon? I could mount it to the hood.” Marie just shrugged.
“What ever you think is necessary.” Logan flashed a dry, tight-lipped smile to her.
“Sam doesn’t trust me very much.”
“He doesn’t know you. I have told him everything what happened. How we first met to the point where I left the breeding center. I guess he only heard the bad parts.”

“Was there something good, too?” Logan asked cocking his brow and handing the empty cup back to her before climbing down from the truck.
“Yeah. There was. Lots of good things. Don’t you think so?” Marie asked. It was Logan’s turn to shrug.
“I guess there was…”
“You were the first person I could touch for a long time. You gave me hope that there could be something in this life, in this world for me, too.”
“And then I took it away. But it was good while it lasted…” Logan muttered, gazing to the rising sun.
“It wasn’t completely your fault.”
“What do you mean? Last time I checked, it was I who violated you,” Logan said.
“If I wasn’t such a coward, I could have stopped you. I still don’t know how to use my mutations. I’m too scared to learn how to use them. They’re so powerful…”
“Yeah. Well, no use to squabble over whose fault it was. It happened… What do you say if we start working on that truck of yours? I’ll show you how it’s done so that you can keep it in shape by yourself.”

“Take that part and tighten that screw just a bit…” She was leaning over the engine, reaching to the side of it. Logan was behind her back, holding her up and giving her instructions when it happened. Sudden impact from the side threw them apart, dropping Marie against the side of the truck and throwing Logan few meters away from her. Thought of Camo flashed briefly in her mind, then she heard an angry howl. Sam was towering over Logan who lay sprawled on the ground, claws out, ready to bounce.

“I already told you, boy… I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior just because you’re my son. Get the fuck out of my face…”
“Or what, old man?” Sam taunted. Logan moved calmly but efficiently, twisting his torso and sweeping Sam on his back to the ground with well-placed kick to his knees.
“Back off from my case or I swear I cut you to so small fucking shreds that your mom can use you to tie her shoes,” Logan murmured, pinning Sam to the ground with his body, claws grazing his jugular. For a moment Sam looked like he was about to speak, but Logan silenced him by retracting the claws from his left hand and pressing the palm of that hand over his mouth.
“Now, I don’t know what exactly Marie has told to you, or how much you have paid attention when she has spoken to you, but there’s one thing that is clearly forgotten from you. I’m not the usual father figure with nine to five job and small beer-belly. I’m not the daddy who scolds you and warns you off from the neighbor’s daughter. I’m the type who drinks a lot, fights and screws that said daughter himself. Only reason I haven’t cut you up already is your mother. She wouldn’t probably like too much if I gutted you like a fish. Get. Off. My. Case.” Last four words were accentuated with small taps of his claws against Sam’s jugular.

“You’re insane…” Sam wheezed when Logan’s weight left his body and older man rolled smoothly on his feet. Logan offered his hand to him to help him up.
“Clever boy. Remember that the next time you feel the urge to waltz with me.” Then he turned to Marie who was now standing, torn look on her face.
“Shall we? Have to get this beast purring before it starts to rain,” he said, picking up the screwdriver she had dropped when Sam had bounced on them.
“I think I need to go and lie down…” She whispered before running in to the cabin, slamming the door shut so hard that it bounced straight back open after her, leaving both men standing and staring the door that rattled on it’s hinges.
“Now look what you did…” Logan grunted, starting towards the cabin, his first instinct to go after Marie, to see if she was all right. Sam beat him in to it, stepping in front of him and blocking his entrance. Logan’s eyes narrowed. Then he huffed and nodded.
“Take care of her.”

Rest of the day he spent working on the truck. Last thing he did was to install flamethrowers to the roof of the cab.
“Those are not much, but they’re better than nothing. How about a test-drive?” Logan asked from Sam who had been sitting on the front porch, guarding the door of the cabin jealously.

“I’m not the driver. Mom is. I’ll go and get her,” Sam said after careful consideration. He had wanted to lie and take the wheel Logan had offered, but it would have to be Sam’s mom. She would have to learn to handle the truck. She would have to learn it from Logan. Sam wouldn’t be here long anymore, and Logan was going to take off soon, too.

“Aren’t you coming?” Logan asked surprised when Sam remained on the ground while Marie climbed on the driver’s seat. Sam shook his head. Cab of the truck wasn’t big enough for the three of them. It would have been before, but now that his ribs were throbbing and sore from the fight with Logan he wasn’t going to be able to sit still.
“Suit yourself. This might take some time. I was thinking we could drop by the settlement and get that pulse cannon I talked about earlier,” Logan said, doors of the truck closed and it sped away.

“I wasn’t going to hurt him. Couldn’t do that. No more than I could hurt you,” Logan said after they had driven half an hour in uncomfortable silence. Marie just grunted in response, taking in the changes within the truck. Steering wheel was more rigid to handle. Whole truck felt heavier, somehow clumsy.
“What did you do to my baby?” She finally asked.
“Just told him few hard facts, I think he…” Logan’s voice trailed off when Marie’s amused laughter filled the cab.
“Oh, you mean the truck?” He asked, smirking sheepishly, admiring the way Marie’s smile seemed to light up the nearly dark cab. Sun was setting.
“Of course I meant the truck! Sam hardly is a baby anymore!”
“That’s something we have to agree to disagree… Okay… I had some leftover armoring from when I built my truck. This cab is now bulletproof. Lorry is unprotected. There are two flamethrowers up on the roof, you can control them with this…” His fingers popped open a small compartment near the steering wheel, revealing a radar screen with a row of buttons under it.
“Just push this button…” He pressed a bright red button on the left side of the screen and yellow grid net fell over the green screen.
“With this you can aim, or you can press this and they search the targets by themselves. Wouldn’t count on that too much, though. Learn to aim,” Logan ended the explanation and closed the compartment. His hand lingered on top of the lid a while before he retreated back to the passenger’s side of the cab.

“What else?” Marie asked.
“Christ! What more do you want? You’re a needy woman…” Logan grunted smiling.
”Well, it certainly has been a while, but that wasn’t what I was referring to. Come on! I know you. You didn’t spend day and a half tinkering with this baby just to give me a chance to fry some ants!” Marie huffed. It was getting easier to relax in Logan’s company.
“Well, there’s this ultra-secret weapon stashed under the hood of this beast. It’ll send out an EM pulse if you turn on the radio, windshield wipers and radar at the same time…” Logan smiled and whispered conspiratorially.
“Really?” Marie asked.
“No. But there’s one weapon, even more powerful than those pulse cannons in here,” Logan said with a serious tone.
“What do you mean?” Marie asked confused.
“You. Learn to use your mutations and you can cross this desert even by foot if you need to.”
“I rather not. I have already spent enough time sucking dry sand, thank you.” Logan shrugged.
“Suit yourself. By the way, it looks like we got company,” he said, nodding towards the rearview mirror. Marie’s hand went to the radar, but Logan covered it with his palm.
“Wait. They’re not bandits. It’s a convoy.”

“A convoy?” She squeaked, hating how weak her voice suddenly sounded.
“Yeah. Pull over.” She obeyed him numbly, stopping to the side of the road and turning off the engine. They just sat there and waited until last of the heavily armed vehicles passed them.
“Come on. Let’s get out for a while…” Logan said, opened the door and stepped out to the night. Marie sat still for a while before following him, slight trembling revealing her frazzled state.
“That bad, huh?” Logan asked. She breathed deeply, leaning her palms to her knees, trying to stop the tremors racing through her whole body. She felt Logan’s palm on her back, rubbing up and down in a soothing motion. There was a slight tremble too. She wasn’t the only one scared.

“Every fucking time… It’s not the same anymore. They’re not after me, I know that, but every fucking time I see them all I can think about is that they’re going to drag me back in…” She could hear him speak. His hand had stopped and lay on her upper back, flat and warm. She rose from her crouched position to face him, and extended her arms.
“Come here…” He approached her hesitantly before surrendering to her embrace, and answering to it by wrapping his arms around her.

It took a while from both of them to relax and let go of the fear that had settled over, but eventually they broke the embrace, reluctantly.
“We should get going. Those guys will keep bandits away, and…” Logan said, clearing his throat.
“Yeah… That would be good… Yeah. Let’s get going.”

It was close to dawn when they finally arrived to the settlement. Marketplace was slowly filling with tents and makeshift counters that were nearly crumbling under the weight of the goods merchants were selling.
“Are you in a hurry?” Marie asked. Logan shrugged his shoulders.
“Not particularly. Guys I traveled with are already used to this…”
“Damsel in distress and Logan rides to rescue?” Marie asked, masking the disappointment in her voice with a cough.
“No. I need my space. It’s safer to travel in caravan, but every now and then I stay behind. When all that noise and life gets too much I take a few days off and catch up with them later.”
“Oh… I was just thinking that I could do some shopping while we are in here. We make by just fine on our own, but there are some things you can’t make yourself, and I’m not about to give up on them,” Marie explained.
“Fine. Can I trust you to stay out of trouble if I go and get that pulse cannon while you shop?” Logan asked with a serious tone.
“Hey!” Her hackles rose instantly. Was he hinting that she was some sort of helpless nitwit? Then she saw Logan’s lips curl to a lopsided grin.
“Just teasing. See you in an hour, that okay?” Logan asked. She nodded.

When she returned to the truck an hour later, carrying various bags and pouches Logan was already waiting for her, sitting on the hood of the truck and puffing a cigar.
“Need a hand with those?” He asked, grabbing a bag that was slipping out from her grasp.
“Thanks! I usually come here with Sam, but it’s better that I learn to do this by myself now…” She grunted, hefting her purchases to the back of the truck. Logan followed her and added the bag he had taken to the pile.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“Sam’s going to became a soldier. He’s been talking about it for years now. Got tired of hearing him nagging about it every fucking day. Promised he could go. I believe he’s leaving as soon as he heals up,” Marie said, stretching her back and gazing the buzzing crowd around them.
“Like hell he is. I can save him the trouble and cripple him for good, then he won’t have to leave home to experience that pleasure,” Logan barked.
“No. Sam’s a big boy. He needs to make his own mistakes.”
“What about you? You’ll be alone…”
“Logan, I have been alone all my life. I can take care of myself. I’m not that naïve kid you met twenty years ago. She died in that cell.” Marie’s words made him cringe and comb his fingers through the thick mane of his hair.
“You think I haven’t beaten myself over what happened back there? Well, I guess it’s only fair to let you get few licks of the blood, too…”
“That’s not what I meant. I was scared. I’m still scared of you. But what happened, it happened. You didn’t want to do it, but it kept us both alive.”
“What the fuck were you doing there anyway?” Logan snarled, still on the edge.

“I worked in a bar. Owner of that place knew that I was a mutant. His daughter had been a mutant, too. He gave me a ring that was supposed to hide my mutation. It didn’t work. When I put it on… Well, he had asked his friend to do that ring for his daughter, to keep her safe from the Army. That friend wasn’t too clever. He had gotten an old suppression collar from somewhere and he had used it to make that ring. As soon as I put it on my finger, it activated the tracking device and they caught me. As soon as they found out what my mutation was they carted me to that center. It wasn’t like I had the freedom to choose!” She finished her story and stomped angrily past him, climbing to the truck. Logan opted to stay outside, taking long drags from the cigar, inhaling the aromatic smoke until he could feel it swirling at the bottom of his lungs. Of course she hadn’t had any options. Nobody had back then. But in the cell she hadn’t been collared. She could have stopped him. She could have if she had bothered to learn how to use the mutation she gained at the Free Zone. One small cold cloud of blue dust, and there would have been left only the adamantium frame of his skeleton, not much good to anything else but to serve maybe as a coat rack.

“You got everything you need?” Logan asked when he climbed in. She just nodded and turned on the engine. She didn’t trust her mouth to speak out loud. Who the hell knew what would come out next. Logan was obviously pissed off already. Better just stay quiet and return to home. He could take his truck and go. Life would return to normal. She would fight with Sam occasionally, but at least she wouldn’t be this disgustingly scared and insecure anymore once Logan left.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” Logan suddenly said.
“I hate the scent of it on you. Makes me sick.”
“You don’t get sick. And I can’t help it. I know it wasn’t… I know that you were pretty messed up back then, and that you wouldn’t do it anymore. I thought I had already gotten over it, but seeing you made it all come back to me. I can’t just stop it. I can’t just decide not to be afraid, when first thing that comes to my mind when I see you is that I should run and hide before you hurt me again.”
“Well, I’m not planning to make any moves at you. Don’t even know if I could get it up anymore…” Logan grunted lighting another cigar from the stub of the one he smoked earlier.
“What?”
“You think it was some sort of joyride for me? To rape you? To get strapped down and get my fucking innards sucked out through my cock? Haven’t felt like a good idea to have sex after that little trip to hell.” He rolled down the window to let out the smoke. Marie kept her gaze fixed to the road ahead. She didn’t want to listen anymore. Maybe Logan would keep quiet if she pretended to ignore him.

One reason why she had clung so tightly to the feeling of fear was that she used it to replace the horrible empty space him being gone had left inside of her. It was cold and lonely. World was big and scary, but if she turned that fear around, directed it to Logan instead of the rest of the world, she could keep going. She couldn’t let go of it now. Logan was leaving. It was better to keep on fearing him, than to admit that she needed somebody, maybe Logan to fill up the empty and silent patch she had stumbled upon after she had thought that he had been killed. She couldn’t do it if he kept talking. Every bit of information she had gotten from him had diminished the fear, made her see the man instead of the animal.

“Oh, fuck…” Logan grunted suddenly.
“What now?” Marie asked. Logan pointed at the windshield.
“It’s starting to rain…”
“Oh, fuck…”

They had been making good progress; they were only hour’s way from home. There lied the problem. Ten minutes would be long enough to turn the road to a puddle of mud. An hour would be long enough to make whole desert to a giant puddle of mud and quicksand.
“Step on it! Closer we get, better chances we got!” Logan growled.
“No shit? I was just thinking we could stop and admire the view…”
“Marie…” There was a warning tone in Logan’s voice. Don’t-fuck-with-me –tone.
“You think this is the first time this has happened to me? This happens fucking every year! We’ll be fine!” Marie said.
“This baby of yours isn’t exactly lightweight anymore! It’s slower and heavier than it was last year! If you don’t find a steady ground soon, it’ll start to sink, no matter how fast you drive!”
“I didn’t ask you to make this fat!” Marie screeched, realizing how absurd it sounded when Logan barked out a nervous laughter.
“You didn’t ask. Period. Let’s switch places. Come on,” he grunted, pulling her off from the driver’s seat and taking the wheel. It took couple of seconds fumbling and adjusting, but soon they both sat comfortably, she on the passenger’s side, feet propped against the dashboard, and Logan driving. He flipped open the radar and flicked few switches. Strange-looking wavy lines filled the small screen.
“See this?” Logan asked, pointing a red line that was much thicker than other lines. She nodded.
“It’s this road. As long as it stays red, we’re good to go. As soon as it starts to fade, we’re screwed. Or at least this truck is…”
“But it looks like we got lucky…” He muttered more to himself than to Marie and steered the truck suddenly off-road.

“Are you fucking nuts!” Marie screamed, waiting for the inevitable. Soon the truck would stop and it would start sinking. It wasn’t raining anymore. Water was practically flowing from the sky in a steady stream. She was sure she would drown if she would have to go outside.
“Yeah, I am. What’s your excuse?” Logan asked, swatting her hands away when she tried to grasp the steering wheel. Any time now… Truck was rocking and jerking. Logan’s knuckles had turned nearly bone-white, and he kept his eyes fixed forward, peering through the flood that covered the windshield. Truck was sinking and sliding, but he kept pushing on. Suddenly there was a jolt, and the truck lurched forward. Logan stopped and turned off the engine.
“What are you doing?” Marie asked.
“We’ll wait here. There’s a rock formation under us. It’ll keep us on top of this shit. It’ll stop raining soon enough, then we just have to wait few hours more and we can drive home. Or we can ditch the truck and walk. I’d prefer waiting. Hate to get wet…” Logan leaned his back against the door, lifted his feet to the dashboard and closed his eyes, crossing his hands over his chest.

“That’s it? We just sit here and wait?” Marie asked.
“Yep.”
“You do realize this might take a while?” Marie asked.
“Yep.”
“Well, at least bandits won’t try anything in this weather…”
“Always look on the bright side…”

“It has been two hours.”
“Yep.”
“It’s still raining.”
“Yep.”
“You’re still sleeping?”
“Yep.”
“Are you even listening?”
“Yep.”
“I was thinking I could move in to the settlement and become a stripper.”
“Good for you.”
“You think so?”
“Yep. It’s safer place to live than out here by yourself. But a stripper? You sure you want to do that?” Logan asked, opening his eyes. Marie lifted her chin.
“Think I’m not up to it?”
“I know you’re up to it. You have better-looking body than most of the dancers I have seen. But that’s not my point…”
“Oh, you mean the scars… Yeah. I can see why they would be reluctant to hire me as a dancer…”

“Didn’t we talk this through once already? There’s nothing wrong with the way you look. Nobody would look you twice… Fuck, scratch that. They would look. They would drool. They would want to get their paws on you. Would you be ready for that? Different men with different hands, every fucking night? Groping and grasping…” Shiver run down her spine and a knowing look flashed in Logan’s eyes.
“Didn’t think so. Do what you do the best. What ever it is that you do.”
“I have been making clothes. Now that Sam’s leaving… I don’t think it’s possible anymore.”
“Why not?”
“I need leather and pelts. Sam’s been hunting. I don’t have time to hunt and sew. And if I move in to settlement, there won’t be much to hunt around…”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Logan, no. Sam needs to live his own life. He can’t have that if he stays with me. He’s a grown man. If we lived at the settlement, he would probably have a family of his own by now. Wife, few kids… I would be a grandma.”
“Is that what you want? Would it be good for you?” Logan asked. Marie nodded.
“Have you talked with Sam about it?”
“Since when did you become this touchy-feely?” Marie asked, trying to distract him. Logan snorted.
“Touchy-feely? You have a problem. I’m trying to help you to solve it. Since you said it wouldn’t be a good idea to break the brat, I’ll have to figure out something else.”
“I have a problem. I have to solve it. Not you. Sam’s my son.”
“Sam’s our son. I haven’t been much of a father to him, but I’m responsible, too. As much as I would like to strangle him myself, the idea of him joining to the Army gives me the creeps. It’s not a life. No matter how different the situation is now than it was before, one thing’s always the same. People die. I may be a selfish bastard, but I think that we have given them enough already.”
“Where the fuck were you week ago?” Marie huffed.
“Drunk or fighting.”
“Yeah. A week ago, hell, a month ago, all these years that I have fought with Sam over this, that’s exactly what I have been thinking; haven’t I given enough to this world already? Now that I finally managed to push past that phase, you waltz in and spit it back at my face? Thanks a bunch!”

An hour later it was still raining. Marie was staring out, still fuming silently. Logan had just shrugged his shoulders after her outburst and gone back to sleep. At least he looked like he was sleeping, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm; eyes closed and almost relaxed look on his face. Slight tremble went through his body, and he opened his eyes halfway before muttering something and settling back to sleep, curling his arms tighter around his sides.
“Asshole,” Marie whispered, gazing him from the corner of her eye. He didn’t have the right to meddle with her life. Oh, it would be so easy to step back and let him take care of everything. It would be so fucking easy, and he would do it, and everything would be okay. Because he knew how to make things work. But she hadn’t busted her back over these years just to handle him the reigns of her life when he showed up. And why the hell did he even bother to try to act like a responsible parent and a friend? He had practically kidnapped her and Sam after the match in the arena, only promising to help her out with the truck and leave after it was finished. It sure didn’t look like he was going to honor his word.

She was stuck with him.

Steady drum of the rain was lulling her to sleep, too. She was just about to enter to the dreamland, when sudden noise shook her awake. It was something from between a growl and a whimper. Part defiant, part pleading.

Logan was in deep sleep, twitching and whispering, thin sheen of sweat covering his skin.
“No…”
“Logan?” She called his name, crawling closer. Man was an asshole, but if he was dreaming about his past… Nobody deserved to go through that hell again.
“No… Don’t touch…” He was moaning out loud, fending off the terrors he was seeing with flailing hands.
“Logan!” She shouted, hoping to jolt him awake. It worked, but not as she would have hoped for. Instead of simply waking up Logan came out of his dream with a mighty roar, one hand grasping her throat and pinning her against the passenger’s door, claws extending from the other hand and hovering over her face.

His lips twisted to a disgusted grimace, eyes narrowed and he pushed away from her, opening the driver’s door and practically falling out from the truck. Marie scooted over the seat and closed the door before the whole cab got flooded. Logan was sitting in the puddle of mud, legs stretched in front of him, leaning to his hands, head bent backwards. It had been just a few seconds, and he was already soaked through, wet clothes hanging on him like a second skin. His chest was heaving and when his head lolled forward before falling back again she could see the look of utter agony on his face. What ever the dream had been about, it had been horrific.

“Logan! Come back inside!” She shouted over the rumbling of the rain. Water was cascading in from the narrow gap between the window and doorframe, but she couldn’t just leave him out there.
“Logan! You fucking dissolve or something! Come inside!” He shook his head, keeping his eyes closed.
“Don’t make me come and get you!” Marie shouted. Logan flopped on his back to the muddy surface.
“Fine. Needed a shower anyway…” Marie muttered, braced herself and pushed the door open, hopping down to the sinking sand.

Water wasn’t cold, but the sheer amount it in the air made her cough and sputter. It was hard to see, and she nearly stumbled over Logan’s long legs.
“Go away!” She heard him shout.
“Come inside! You can drown yourself to the well once we get back to the cabin! Easier that way!” She responded, kneeling next to him and fumbling blindly until she found his arm.
“Come on!” She tried to drag him up, but Logan squirmed loose from her hold and crawled further from the truck.
“Stop!” If he crawled any further, he would really drown. He was at the edge of the rock formation. She run after him and grabbed his ankles, starting to pull him backwards, towards the solid ground and the truck.
“Let the fuck go of me!” Logan screamed and something sticky and hard hit her to the side of her head. It took her a while to realize what had happened.
“You didn’t just threw me with a mud-ball!” She was shocked enough of his behavior that she let go of his ankles. Logan repaid his new freedom with another ball of brown and sticky dirt.

“Stop that! I’m only trying to help!”
“I don’t fucking need your help!” Logan hissed sitting up and swiping wet hair back from his forehead. His fingers left muddy imprints on his skin, but they washed away almost immediately. When she tried to approach him, he scooped up a generous pile of the mud and threw it at her, hitting her torso. She screamed and bolted on top of him, forcing him down and covering his face with a liberal amount of brown, gooey substance.
“There! And here’s some more!” She snarled almost hysterically, stuffing mud inside of his shirt. Logan let out a low growl and twirled them over, so that he ended on top, and straddled her waist. One hand restrained her arms above her head; other scooped mud and was closing in to her face slowly.
“You wouldn’t dare…”
“Watch me.” She barely had the time to close her mouth and eyes before sticky pile of mud landed on her face. Logan’s weight left her body.
“Stay down. Rain will wash it off,” she heard him grunt and decided to obey.

She scraped the last remnants of the gritty mud from her eyelids and sat up. Logan was standing next to her, eyes fixed to the sky above.
“It’s slowing down.” He was right. She could actually see the truck through the rain, not just hazy outlines of it. She stood up and tried to shake off the sand and mud that had stuck to her clothes. Logan shrugged away his shirt and let the last droplets of the water to wash away the mud she had gotten on him. Sun was already peeking through the clouds.

“What happened?” She asked. They were sitting on the hood of the truck, soaking up the sun and waiting for the ground to dry up.
“Nightmare.”
“You have them often?” She asked.
“This was the first one in years. I’m sorry… I’m sorry if I scared you,” Logan said, letting his gaze settle over the horizon, clearly not comfortable with the topic.
“I had those too. Several years after…”
“Yeah. Life’s a bitch,” Logan muttered, combing his fingers through the tangled mess of his hair, letting loose a small cloud of sand and dust. He leaned backwards, propping himself to a half-sitting position with his elbows. She couldn’t help admiring the view of his naked torso, all that muscle bulging and rippling under the tanned skin. She wondered if he would still feel the same. Warm and solid. How he would react if she let her palm wander over the expanse of his chest. She shook her head and hid her burning cheeks behind a tangled veil of her hair, starting to comb it with her fingers to get out now dried up mud cakes from it. She didn’t have the luxury to let her mind wander down that path. She could already feel her body starting to react to the man lying next to her.

Logan shifted and slid down from the hood, testing the ground carefully.
“I think… Yeah. We can continue…” He shouted from the edge of the rocks, stomping the sand with his foot. Marie cleared her throat.
“Good. It’s about time.” Sun was already setting. And in the night, after dark, bandits would start prowling around, looking for stranded travelers.

Marie barely had the time to hop down from the cab of the truck when door of the cabin flew open and Sam stormed out. He took in her appearance and bounced on Logan who was wringing his still soaked shirt dry.
“What the fuck did you do to her now? Huh! Didn’t get enough last time?” His fist connected to Logan’s jaw and made Logan stumble backwards and hit his head to the side of the truck. Sharp metallic thud made Marie wince. Logan shrugged his shoulders and twisted his neck before throwing the shirt on the hood of the truck.
“In case you didn’t notice, it rained. We got stuck. That’s all that happened. Get lost squirt. I have a job to do,” he growled instead of tearing in to Sam with his claws.
“Mom?” Sam asked.
“Nothing happened. Go to sleep. I’ll help Logan to mount that pulse cannon. We’ll talk about this on the morning…” She could see Sam’s nostrils flaring.
“Since when have I lied to you?” Sam snorted, threw his hands in the air and turned around.
“Fine. I’m just trying to look after you. Don’t come crying home if…” Thankfully he didn’t finish his sentence, but marched in to the cabin instead, slamming the door shut.

Logan was already opening the backboard and tarp that were covering the lorry. Small trickle of blood oozed from the hairline, down to his neck and back.
“You’re hurt!”
“It’s nothing. Don’t fret over it. Let’s just get this over with…” Logan grunted handing her bags filled with coffee, soap and other luxuries before climbing on the lorry and dragging the crate that held the pulse cannon closer to the edge.
“I’ll go and put these away…” Marie huffed, balancing the bags on her arms. Logan nodded.

She arranged her purchases to the cupboards and cabinets. There were surprisingly many packages. She was quite sure she had bought only two bars of soap instead of four. Only one kilo of coffee instead of one and a half. Then she found something that she was sure of she hadn’t bought. A small bottle of golden liquid. She didn’t have to open it. She knew what it was. Of what it would smell like.

“Logan?” He was crouching on the hood of the truck, reaching to the roof of the cab.
“I think it'll work better if I put it up here instead of the hood. Gives wider range that way…”
“Logan?”
“I’ll hook this up with the radar and see if I can upload a better program to it, I don’t think it’s…”
“Logan?”
“What?” He barked, turning finally to look at her. She stood beside the truck, small bottle of honey and beeswax on her palm.
“I think you mixed up our purchases.”
“No. It’s for you. Don’t really need that stuff with the healing…” Logan said, turning back to tighten the bolts at the base of the pulse cannon.

“What is this?” She asked, placing the bottle carefully to the front porch of the cabin. Logan hopped down from the hood of the truck wiping his hands clean to his shirt that he had discarded earlier.
“What’s what?” He asked, cocking his brow.
“You just suddenly appear out of nowhere. Fix my truck. Try to help out with Sam. Buy me stuff. What are you up to?” Marie asked, draping her hands over her chest and tilting her head.
“Uh… Nothing? I just wanted… You looked like you could use some help, that’s all.”
“Right. And you’re the kind of guy who walks around helping people just out of the goodness of your heart?”
“Marie… Don’t. I just wanted to help you. I owe you.”
“Oh, God. I’m going to be sick! You can’t possibly imagine that all this will erase the fact that you raped me!” She shouted. Mortified look spread on Logan’s face.
“There’s absolutely no way to repay, or undo things that happened back then! This isn’t about the stuff that happened at the breeding center!”
“Then what is this? Tell me! I need to know!”
“You loved me once. Do you have any idea how it made me feel? To see that look in your eyes? To feel something and find out that you felt the same? This isn’t… It isn’t even close of what you deserve, but this is something I can do, something I can give.”

She had absolutely now idea how to respond to Logan’s honesty. She turned her back and walked back to the cabin with numb legs. Returned back out and retrieved the bottle of honey and beeswax before going back inside again. She walked in to her bedroom, and placed the bottle to the small table next to her bed. Giggle escaped from her lips when she realized that she would have to build a bathtub so that she could enjoy that little gift properly. That giggle transformed to a series of sobs.

She could hear Sam walking around. Closet doors opening and closing. Soft rustle of cloth. More walking. More rummaging. Then silence. She opened the door of her room and saw Sam, sitting in the kitchen. There was backpack on the floor at his feet.
“I’m leaving before weather gets too rough. I left you some money, and I’ll arrange so that somebody comes and helps you out every now and then.”
“Sam…”
“I’m fed up. Tired of this shit you call a life. I’m going.” With that he rose, took the backpack and walked out. She walked to the window. Saw Sam talking with Logan. Logan was shaking his head. Sam was talking again. Finally Logan nodded. Both men climbed to Logan’s truck, and it drove away in to the night, leaving her standing alone in the darkness.

She didn’t sleep that night. Instead she lay awake on her bed, planning what to do tomorrow. There was so much that had to be done. Only so many hours in a day, and now that she was alone, she would really have to organize all tasks carefully so that she got them done. Garden didn’t need watering, thank God for small mercies. But weeds would try to take over it now. There was a huge pile of dirty clothes waiting for washing up. Roof of the cabin was leaking. She had noticed a dark, moist patch on the kitchen ceiling. There was a huge pile of leathers and pelts left at the storage, enough to keep her occupied next winter, but she would need to take care of those. Moist summer air did all kinds of damage to them if she wasn’t careful and aired them out every now and then. She would have to hunt for meat and make jerky. And it looked like at least one more trip to settlement was in order. She didn’t have any nails left to fix the roof. When morning sun greeted her through the window, she finally fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. For one minute she was wide awake, next she was dead to the world.

She woke up several hours later, to an uneasy feeling of being watched. She blinked her eyes several times and strained her hearing before finally sitting up. Small surprised gasp left her lips when she saw Logan, sitting at the doorstep of her room, back leaned against the doorframe, and feet propped up to the opposite side of it, half hooded gaze fixed upon her.
“Morning…” He muttered.
“What… What are you still doing here? The truck is finished. Isn’t it?” Marie whispered, dragging the quilt tighter around her. Logan yawned.
“Yeah. It’s done. Just came to tell you that I gave Sam a ride to the settlement.”
“When did you get back?” How long had he been sitting there?
“Couple of hours ago. You were sleeping. Didn’t want to wake you.” Logan yawned again and rubbed his eyes.
“I’m kind of tired. Do you mind if I sleep for a while before I leave?” He asked.
“In my truck, of course,” he added hastily when Marie didn’t answer right away.
“No. I mean no, I don’t mind… Are you hungry?” She asked. After all he had slaved his ass off with her truck even when Sam kept bitching and hitting him. Logan scratched his stubbled jaw and stood up slowly.
“More tired than anything else. But I guess I could eat…”

She eyed her handiwork with doubtful gaze. Homemade bread, thick soup made of mashed vegetables and dried meat and some dried berries and nuts for dessert. Well, it had to do. It was the best she could whip up right now. She set the table for two, sudden pang of sadness clouding her mind when she realized this would be probably the last time there was somebody else eating with her. She pushed that feeling back. She wasn’t going to turn to a blubbering and sobbing little girl in front of Logan.
“Better go and get him…” It had taken her two hours to make the meal.

“Oh…” Logan’s truck was a mess. It hadn’t been pretty earlier, but now it was so banged up that one hardly could call it a vehicle. It looked like it had taken a trip through hell. Literally. There were dents and holes in the armoring. One machinegun and flamethrower were missing. Searchlight that had been mounted in front of it was broken. It was covered with dust and scrapes. Driver’s side door was decorated with a series of small holes and window was broken. There were dents and jagged tears on the sleeve that covered the tires from the attacks from the sides.
“Logan!” She called him. Soft grunt, little shuffling and his head emerged to the broken window.
“Dinner’s ready… Or it’s more like a supper, I guess…”
“Fine. I’m coming…” He grunted, opened the door and staggered out little groggily, squinting his eyes against the brightness of the sun.
“What the hell happened? Is Sam…”
“Sam’s okay. Got in to trouble with bandits when I was returning from the settlement.” She walked to the truck and reached for the door that Logan was closing. She opened it.

Holes on the door went through it. Cab was splattered with blood, and there were small jagged tears on every surface. Logan slammed the door closed.
“How bad?” Marie asked. Now his exhausted state made perfectly sense to her.
“It was nothing…”
“How bad?”
“Marie…”
“How bad were you hurt? And what the hell did they use?” Logan had armored her truck with same plates he had used to armor his.
“You don’t have to worry about them anymore. I took care of them. I doubt anybody else has same shit that they used…” Logan said.
“What do you mean?” Marie asked.
“They were mutants. Old Destroyers. One of them had a machinegun mounted to his shoulder, and some leftover armor piercing ammunition. But I took care of them. You don’t have to worry about them.” She could only stare at the truck numbly. When she had been pondering over weather to fix a leaking roof, or maybe take care of the garden first, Logan had been driving around, cleaning out possible threats and gotten hurt. Gentle nudge against her shoulder brought her out from her stupor.
“You were talking something about food? I’m kind of hungry…” Logan said.

She scooped generous amount of soup for him, trying to stop her hands trembling. She was shivering so hard that Logan took the kettle and the spoon from her.
“Sit down.” She sat on her seat and watched when Logan poured rest of the soup to her bowl and placed the kettle to the sink.
“Eat.” She lifted her spoon mechanically, down to the bowl, up to her lips, down, up, down, up… Barely tasting what she was eating. Logan ate quietly, finishing the soup and wiping the bowl clean with a piece of bread.
“Like I said, there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore. At least not for a while. I took care of those bandits. New ones will be coming, but at least for a while the road should be safe.” She didn’t answer, just kept trembling.
“Did you hear? It’s safe,” Logan said.
“I’m not afraid of those fucking bandits!” She screamed, closing her eyes and squeezing her temples.
“I’m afraid of myself…”

“You are not all right, are you?” Logan asked, observing her with critical eyes over the table.
“Yes… No… I don’t know anymore. I was all right. Then you showed up.”
“Sorry.” She could hear from his voice he was being honest.
“I’m not afraid of you. I don’t hate you. But it was safer to think that way. I would have gone nuts all by myself if I didn’t have a good reason to not to go back and search for you. It was easier to believe that you hurt me too bad. I have tried to believe it even now, but it isn’t fucking working! Now Sam’s gone, you’re leaving, and I’m alone again!”
“What the fuck is keeping you here? Move in to settlement, or come with me,” Logan said.
“I already fought this over with Sam, thousands of times! I’m not going to abandon my life in here just to move to some crummy little hut… With you?”
“We are not built to be alone. No matter what happened, we both need some human company. You’ll go nuts if you stay out here alone. I’ll help you move over to settlement, find you a nice place to live from there, or you can pack up your stuff and come with me. Deal is still on…”
“Stay with you… Talk with you…”
“And I’ll keep you fed and clothed.”
“What happened to ‘safe’?” She asked.
“I think you got it covered by yourself. So, how about it? Which is it going to be?”

She looked around in her tiny cabin, taking in every detail, breathing deeply. She wasn’t sure of what to say. Of what would come out when she opened her mouth. She closed her eyes and swallowed.
“I think… I think I’ll take that deal.”